One Night
by Oriel Subtle
Summary: Lily hates those Marauders... doesn't she? Best friend Meghan LOVES the marauders! What starts off as an innocent game of spin the bottle turns into a pretty epic night. My first fanfiction! Please be gentle and PLEASE review :
1. In the Dormitory

' Lilian'

Lily looked up from her book into the stern face above it.

'Meghan-an' she said, raising her eyebrows in an admonishing manner and then looking back to her book.

She wasn't quite sure where '_The Moonchildren- tracking the werewolf'_ had come from but finding it on her bed when she returned from dinner, she had decided to read it; after all, if there was one thing Lily Evans could do, it was read. She had a sneaking suspicion that the book may have come from a particular slytherin whom she had sworn to hate for all eternity though. Snape always had been strangely obsessed with werewolves, especially where Remus Lupin was concerned…

She shook her head as Meghan collapsed dramatically on her bed, with the sigh of someone who recently found out that a close relative had died. Lily rolled her eyes and folded the page over, placing the book carefully on her bedside table before looking back at Meghan who now had her arm flung across her face.

'What?' she said wearily. Meghan grinned and sat up, facing Lily.

'Okay, the Marauders…'

'NO!' Lily jumped off the bed as if she'd been burned and started rummaging through her school bag looking for she-did-not-know-what.

'You didn't even let me finish!' Meghan said, throwing her arms up in exasperation.

'I don't need to!' answered Lily rummaging still more vigorously through her schoolbag, 'whatever it is, if the Marauders are involved then its bad news,'

'You can't just assume that! It's just an innocent little game of spin the bottle!'

Lily turned with an incredulous look on her face.

'ARE YOU SERIOUS? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!' she shrieked, her hands now scrabbling frantically through rolls of parchment.

'Calm down Lily! It's not a big deal! You need to lighten up a bit!' said Meghan holding her hands up in surrender.

'What are you even doing anyway?' Meghan continued, peering over the side of the bed to where Lily was still burrowing into the recesses of her bag, 'What are you looking for?'

Lily froze, her hands mid-scrabble, desperately trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't make her look like a crazy person.

'My… calculator!' she finally cried, immediately realising she'd made a mistake.

Meghan looked sceptical: 'you're… what? What in Merlin's name is a calculator?'

Lily panicked. Meghan had been raised by wizards and had therefore never heard of a calculator. 'Just some arithmancy thing' Meghan pulled a face.

'So are we going down or what?' she said eagerly.

'I said no!'

'You owe me!'

'For what?'

'I… checked your charms homework last week!'

Lily's face turned stony. 'You copied my charms homework last week.'

'And then gave you feedback! Come on Lily! I'll do your herbology for a month!'

Lily considered. She hated herbology. She hated getting dirty and the odd amount of violent plants they had to deal with and the essays they had to write about their pointless qualities. Most of all, she hated that even Peter Pettigrew got a higher mark in it than she did. She was not used to coming bottom. Was it worth it?

'Fine.' She said grudgingly to which Meghan squealed 'But!' she added quickly, 'Only if Rory McLaggen's not going. He keeps cornering me in the classrooms to ask me to Hogsmeade; I'm running out of excuses!'

'He's got detention!' said Meghan gleefully, 'apparently he got caught with raw bubotuber pus by Filch! Merlin knows what he was up to!'

Lily groaned, changing out of her tracksuit bottoms and t-shirt into skinny jeans and a pretty white-knit jumper. She put on mascara and some big white socks and turned to Meghan who was absent-mindedly curling her golden hair around her wand.

Meghan was very pretty, to the point where Lily was almost embarrassed to be seen with her. She had long golden hair; freckly, tan skin and big, grey (almost silver) eyes that sparkled when she laughed. Bitch.

Lily giggled and Meghan's smile brightened. 'That's the spirit! It'll be fun!' Lily's smile dropped. 'Besides, James'll be there!'

Lily's face immediately turned to one of dismay, but her protests were drowned as Meghan covered her mouth and steered her out of the dorm, laughing merrily.


	2. In the Common Room

Chapter 2

Cheers greeted Lily and Meghan's entrance into the common room. Lily felt her face turn scarlet as she was surrounded by whistling and catcalls, this was why she didn't leave the dormitory all that much! She turned to Meghan, expecting to see a very apologetic best friend.

She glared. Meghan was facing out to the common room, bowing flamboyantly and waving to her fans. She gestured to Lily as if she was a prize and everyone laughed.

'Yes everyone! As promised! Miss Lily Evans direct from the 6th year dormitory will be joining us tonight! I think you'll agree this is a very fine achievement on my part! I'd like to thank my parents, my friends, my goldfish…'

Lily grabbed Meghan's hand and pulled her away from the foot of the staircase into the now booing crowd. Meghan laughed and waved as she was dragged to the corner where the Marauders and assorted girls were seated. This was obviously the 'spin the bottle party'. Lily scanned the faces.

She grinned at Marlene McKinnon, one of her friends from seventh year and her friend Molly Prewett who was sitting decidedly close to Arthur Weasley. She grimaced at her other best friend Haylea who laughed back.

The only other girls were the notorious Brown twins. Violet and Daisy. Lily pulled a face: if they didn't turn the night into a whorefest, she didn't know who would. She could see all the way down Violets top as she leaned over to straighten James' glasses. She turned away. She'd only just had dinner after all.

She saw out of the corner of her eye James' expression turn to one of alarm as Violets hand lingered on his cheek and he backed away so hurriedly that his chair almost tipped over. She caught his eye and giggled slightly, as he waggled his eyebrows back at her.

Violet scowled and Lily sobered up pretty quickly when she remembered that James had probably done her… along with almost every other girl in the common room.

Remus smiled gently at her from his position next to Haylea and she smiled back. She'd never had a problem with Remus, finding him more sincere and less troublesome than the rest of his group. Many an evening prefect patrol had gone by pleasantly with his easy friendship.

Lily smiled to herself as she registered his location. Remus and Haylea were perfect for each other… even if they didn't know it yet.

Daisy was hanging onto Sirius' arm like a small child, trying to whisper in his ear while he clapped Meghan like the rest of the common room. Lily grinned as Sirius managed to shake Daisy off and bent down to whisper in Meghan's ear. She held out her hand, suddenly serious and Sirius grudgingly dropped three shining galleons into her palm.

Lily's grin dropped.

'You BET on me?' she screeched at Meghan. Meghan turned and laughed, trying to keep her face straight.

'He gave me _really_ good odds' she said solemnly.

'Ooooh you'd better run Meggie,' she said with a mock snarl, 'Or so help me, I will feed you to the giant squid.'

'Ahhh the famous Evans temper,' said Sirius, in the voice of a nature show presenter, 'this really is a treat. If you look really closely, you can even see steam coming out of her ears'

Everyone laughed, even, in spite of herself, Lily. She punched him on the arm and he clutched it, wiping a pretend tear from his eye.

'You cut me deep Evans. Now Meggie, is everyone here? Can we get going now?'

Meghan nodded, looking around: 'I think so.'

'Wait!' cried Remus, counting over everyone's heads, 'Where's Peter?'

A muffled noise came from Violet and James' direction, and James leapt up. He gestured in mock horror at Peter who had been squashed on the armchair beneath him.

'Ohmygod Peter! Why didn't you say anything?' cried James in a high voice. Peter glared at him.

'You know very well I did James…'

He was drowned out by everyone else's laughter.

Sirius gestured impatiently at the portrait hole: 'Can we go already? I want to get some snogging done before the night is out!'

Violet and Daisy cheered then collapsed onto each other giggling. Lily turned to Meghan with an incredulous look. Meghan raised her hands defensively and gave Lily an 'I didn't invite them' look. Lily sighed. It was going to be a long night.


	3. In the Room of Requirement Part 1

Thankyou thankyou thankyou! For the review they literally make my life :D Sorry the chapters have been so short! It was harder than I though to get this story off the ground, introduce characters and relationships etc. etc. and it was easier to do that in shorter sections. This one is going to be longer though… I promise

**Disclaimer****: I haven't been doing this but I'm sure you know that only the story and some of the characters are mine. The rest belong to Mrs. Rowling **

The door was like any other classroom door in the castle. The normal dimensions; the normal heavy oak; the normal brass handle. The only slightly less normal thing about the door was that it didn't have a plaque on it, announcing 'Charms' or 'Transfiguration'

'Really?' Lily piped up after everyone had stared at the door for a few seconds, 'we're going to play spin the bottle in an empty classroom?' The Marauders and Meghan continued to stare at the door in reverence. Lily continued: 'You don't think there might be a slight chance that Filch or McGonagall might discover us?'

Her face turned scarlet, as a mental image of McGonagall walking in on her and James snogging appeared unbidden in her head. Her hands in his messy hair, his arm around her waist, the way he would pull her closer until neither of them could breathe…

Alarm bells rang in her head and she swallowed falling back into the present with a bump. She stared at the back of James' neck, trying to concentrate, while scolding herself over and over in her head. What on earth had made that image pop into her mind? Bad Lily. You do not like James like that. You do not like James at all. Well maybe a little?

'NO LILY!'

Everyone turned to her and she turned scarlet once again, trying to disguise her outburst with a feeble cough. James was looking at her with concerned eyes and she gave him a gooey smile, before shaking her head vigorously and coughing once more. She turned to Sirius and Meghan who were both staring at her in consternation.

'So the door,' said Lily gesturing wildly, 'Explain'

Lily reflected on how much she loved Meghan as she launched in to a rambling explanation, drawing the attention away from Lily's moment of insanity. Only James continued to look at her, amusement in his eyes. She looked away deliberately to Meghan and after a few seconds, she saw James do the same. She breathed a sigh of relief.

'… turns into anything you need! Ladies and Gentlemen, the room of requirement!' Lily concentrated on what Meghan was saying, just as her best friend opened the door.

Lily gasped. She wasn't the only one. The room was perfect! It was dark red and burgundy in colour, with gold hangings on the walls. She grinned. The room obviously knew they were all Gryffindors. It was quite small, only the size of her living room at home, but instead of sofas, there was a circle of nine large beanbags on the carpet, all surrounding a glittering glass bottle.

Everyone stood in shock for a moment, then ran for the largest beanbag they could see, pushing other people off their preferred colour as they fought to sit next to the people they wanted. Lily laughed as she watched Sirius and Meghan wrestle over a particularly squashy looking purple one. Sirius tried to shove Meghan onto the next one but quailed under the look she gave him and meekly went to sit on a yellow one nearby.

Lily waited until the scuffles were over and then went to sit on the remaining beanbag between Meghan and Peter. She looked up over the golden bottle to see James grinning at her from between Violet and Haylea. It took all her willpower to look down to the bottle again in a dignified sort of way.

'So,' said Daisy eagerly shuffling closer towards Sirius, 'Who wants to go first?'

'I nominate Lily!' said James deviously from the other side of the circle. She glared at him.

'I nominate James!' she retorted, laughing at James' expression as Violet clapped her hands.

'Lily'

'James'

'Lily'

'James' She quickly followed up her shout with a silencing charm. James narrowed his eyes. He flicked his wand and suddenly she couldn't talk either. She looked around, but Marlene and Molly were still in the common room. James had done the spell. She was impressed. They didn't start learning non-verbal spells for another month or so.

She turned back to him with wide eyes and he smiled angelically back. She flicked her wand upwards thinking _Levicorpus_. James was hoisted into the air by his ankle. Now it was her turn to smile angelically.

Suddenly James fell down and she found herself able to speak again. She laughed out loud as James looked around confusedly and his eyes found her face. He began laughing too.

'When you two have stopped flirting,' said Sirius rolling his eyes, '_I'll_ go first.'

Lily and James both looked down. Lily hiccupped slightly and James smirked.

Sirius reached forwards and touched the bottle, which immediately began to spin at his touch. Lily watched in fascination. After a few seconds it started to hurt her eyes as the bottle became a white blur. Then, suddenly, it stopped.

Everyone looked at Sirius, shocked. He smiled at his partner.

'Come here you,' he said affectionately. His partner giggled.

'Oh Sirius,' said James in a high voice, batting his eyelashes, 'You certainly know how to charm a guy'

Sirius pounced. Jumping on James. Lily laughed so hard she thought she was crying as the two boys rolled around on the floor pretending to make out.

After a minute, Sirius got up and went to sit back on his beanbag, winking at James. James bit his lip and looked away coyly then turned back and mouthed 'Call me'.

'Guys, let me be the first to say this,' giggled Meghan wiping tears from her eyes, 'that was WAY too convincing.' Everyone laughed except Violet, who pouted.

'Can we change the rules guys?' she whined, 'I don't want Siri to be getting all the action' She gave James what she must have thought was a winning smile. Sirius cut in.

'As good as James was guys,' he said, looking in Lily's direction, 'I still think we need to make it boy-girl. Also 'hug, kiss, make-out' do you think? Make it a bit more interesting?' Everyone nodded in agreement. And the game began.


	4. In the Room of Requirement Part 2

Omigoodness, late much? I'm sorry! Hey, hey, hey so this is part three where actual things happen! I know it's taken rather a long time to set up sorry! Also I apologise for the last chapter. Some of you may be confused as to why the colour of the bottle kept changing from just plain glass to gold suddenly! Sorry about that, my brain wasn't working particularly well. Also THANKYOU for the reviews! You have all been so nice! Even with the questionable coloured bottle

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hogwarts… who does?**

James reached forward to touch the bottle and Violet giggled: 'Good Luck Jamesie!' he didn't reply. Lily looked at Meghan whose eyes were flickering from Lily to James to Violet. She looked back to the bottle, which was spinning fast by now.

She didn't know what everyone was so het-up about. It was only a game after all. Even if she did get James, it wouldn't mean anything. Certainly not to her. The Bottle spun faster. She wouldn't care if she got James. In fact it would make no difference to her as anyone else. Except maybe Peter. She had to say that James would be preferable to Peter. He was her friend after all. In fact, it would probably be a good thing if she got James. Then everyone could see how unaffected their kiss was. The Bottle was a white blur. It would even be pretty funny to get James. She would like to see Violets face. And it wouldn't be that bad. If half the rumours in the Gryffindor Common room were true, he was one of the best kissers Hogwarts had ever seen. She was curious. The Bottle stopped.

'Kiss Violet,' murmured Lily. She tried to ignore the slight weight in her stomach. It definitely wasn't disappointment. She looked to Meghan who was looking half disgusted and half concerned glancing at Lily who nodded. She was fine. Why did everyone think she would be otherwise?

She looked to James. He was smiling at Violet who simpered back.

'I really wanted to get you Jamesie,' she said giggling.

'Don't call him that!' said Lily sharply, in her second embarrassing outburst of the night. Everyone in the circle turned to her. She felt her face go scarlet as she met James' eye. She could feel Meghan's frown at her left shoulder.

'You- He doesn't like being called… Jamesie,' she mumbled to the floor. There was a short silence.

'No,' said a soft voice, 'No, I don't.' Lily looked up and met James' eyes, which were looking at her with an unfathomable expression. She subconsciously leaned towards him slightly.

Violet coughed pointedly. And Sirius said slightly awkwardly: 'Well, go ahead James.'

Meghan looked at Lily pointedly and grinned knowingly at her friend. Lily rolled her eyes and Meghan shook her head. Lily rolled her eyes once again and turned away from her best friend.

She felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Violet was kneeling up with her arms tight around James' neck, kissing him like there was no tomorrow. Something hot seemed to rise up in her throat and it was a moment before she realised it was jealousy. She shook her head vigorously. NO. She was not jealous of Violet Brown. It was a shock, that was all.

Sirius snickered as James tried to visibly disentangle himself from Violet but she couldn't laugh. She couldn't look away. She wanted to but it was impossible. Her insides seemed to have twisted, and she could move. How did this happen? She didn't like James!

After what seemed like an age, Violet and James broke apart. They both grinned at each other, then turned back to the circle. Lily's eyes were still stuck on James' face. He looked over at her, smiling weakly. She didn't smile back.

Lily was finally able to tear her eyes away and she watched as Violet, a little out of breath, leaned into the circle and touched the bottle, sending it spinning. Lily watched it with her eyes glazed. What had just happened? Did she like James? No, she thought, she couldn't. Only a few months ago she'd hated him. True he had matured somewhat… but no. It must have just been the shock.

She looked up into the dismayed face of Haylea. Lily frowned, what was going on? Then she saw Violet grinning and the bottle pointing at Remus with Make-out written in golden letters. Remus looked terrified as Violet advanced on him and Lily fought down an urge to laugh.

She turned to Meghan who was very deliberately not looking at Sirius with her lips pressed together, going slightly red with suppressed laughter. Lily heard what may have been a protest from Remus' direction but came out as more of a strangled croak, which was soon muffled with Violet's mouth.

Remus who was leaning as far away from Violet as he could, eyes wide open and eyebrows raised in alarm. Lily had to bite down on her fist as James turned to Remus and flicked his tongue in and out of his mouth. Remus looked ready to kill someone as he glared back at James.

She looked incredulously to Sirius who licked his lips at her and jerked his thumb back at Haylea who was now looking horrified as Violet crawled over the top of Remus and he leaned back so far that he was now lying on the floor.

Lily looked around at Meghan and immediately knew it had been a mistake. Her raised eyebrow was too much for Meghan who let out an almighty snort of laughter. This effectively set Lily off who doubled up laughing, and soon the whole circle was in hysterics.

Violet withdrew from Remus with the sound of a plunger being pulled from a sink.

'Whats so funny guys?' she asked, which set both Meghan and Lily off again. Violet huffed slightly and went to sit back next to James.

A very pale Remus reached forward and touched the bottle which began to spin again, quickly building up into a blur as Lily and Meghan hiccupped themselves back into silence. The bottle stopped and the best friends grinned at each other.

Haylea smiled shyly up at Remus as he sat back with a sigh of delighted relief. Kiss Haylea. Sirius wolf-whistled loudly and Meghan hit him hissing at him not to ruin the moment.

Remus turned to Haylea and leaned forward, reaching up to gently cradle her face in his hand. Lily smiled as she saw Haylea blush scarlet. Remus leaned in towards her tilting his head slightly and their lips met as his eyes flickered closed. He kissed her tenderly and sweetly and although it had only lasted a few seconds, Lily was in no doubt that it was the most meaningful thing she had seen so far that night.

She and James looked at each other and she saw her own happiness for her friend mirrored in his face.

Haylea looked down as they broke apart, blushing furiously as Sirius wolf whistled once again. Meghan hit him. Remus looked back to Haylea and they both grinned into each other's faces. After a few seconds, Sirius had a large 'coughing fit' (Meghan hit him again) and Haylea leaned forward to touch the bottle.

The bottle stopped. Hug Sirius. Haylea shrugged.

'Could've been worse I suppose,' she grinned. Sirius clutched his chest in mock horror, and fell back slightly.

'I'd be careful Hayles!' Remus laughed, 'He'll try and get some, even if it's just a hug!' Haylea grinned back at him before standing up, reaching forward and hugging Sirius.

Sirius' hand reached downwards, slowly reaching towards her bum and Remus grabbed Haylea back as Meghan jabbed at the back of Sirius' knee, causing him to collapse in a heap on top of Meghan and her beanbag. She shoved him off as he pouted as the rest of the circle laughed.

Sirius reached out a little huffily and touched the bottle. Lily watched it spin once more, starting to think that maybe she'd be lucky after all and the bottle would never point to her. Then she could leave this room and be none the worse off for her little bout of rule breaking. She smiled to herself. Imagine her, Lily Evans, rule-breaking! The bottle stopped. Make-Out Sirius.

Lily smiled happily as her best friend turned slightly pink. Sirius rubbed his palms together.

'Excellent,' he said in a low voice.

Meghan tutted, pasting a look of supreme indifference on her face, which was slightly ruined by the giggle she gave as Sirius opened his arms wide to her. Meghan stood and made her way over to Sirius, throwing a backwards smile at Lily. She straddled him, and Sirius gulped audibly, soliciting a chuckle from James and Remus. He ignored them and stared back at Meghan with a look of mingled terror and jubilation. She leaned forward so her lips were beside his ear and in the tense silence of the circle; every word of her whisper was audible.

'Why so serious?'

Lily's laughter mingled with James', Remus' and Haylea's as Sirius grasped Meghan's face in his hands and started to snog her in earnest. She responded enthusiastically and Lily was forcibly reminded of the image of her and James snogging earlier, except with a lot more hair pulling and moaning.

She beamed at James who grinned back and mouthed: 'at last'. She nodded fervently. She'd been thinking exactly the same thing.

Six minutes and 17 attempts to stop their endless snogging, Sirius and Meghan broke apart as James' hand was thrust between their mouths. Daisy gave Meghan a look which plainly stated that she wished to take the bottle at the centre of the circle and shove it up Meghan's nostrils, as said Meghan tripped daintily back to her place, her hair mussed and her lips swollen.

Lily rolled her eyes at her and Meghan looked politely defiant.

'I'm not going to apologise Lilian. That was the best snog I've ever had and I suggest,' she turned to Sirius, 'That we repeat the exercise at your soonest possible convenience,'

'Took the words right out of my mouth Meggie,' he said winking at her with a slightly punch-drunk air.

Meghan looked satisfied as she leaned into the centre and touched the bottle. Lily leaned to her and whispered:

'Knew it!' in her ear. Meghan beamed back and hugged Lily excitedly.

'Now we've just got to get you and James…' Meghan started before Lily hit her over the head. Meghan laughed and leaned back to the beanbag. The bottle stopped.

Lily's face split into an enormous grin as she praised Merlin, The Queen and Albus Dumbledore all at once for the genius of the shining bottle that lay before her. _Now_ Meghan was going to be paid back for dragging her into this silly game and every Lily and James joke she had ever made. Kiss Peter.

Daisy cheered enthusiastically and Lily, and Meghan turned to glare at her. Only Lily was allowed to laugh at her friend's unfortunate luck. The cheer died away and Meghan looked to Lily pleadingly. Lily shook her head grinning and Meghan glared, then turned with a forced smile to Peter who was looking very excited.

'Well Pete,' she said with an attempt at joviality, 'Let's do this,'

Her jaw clenched and she leaned over, very quickly brushing Peter on the lips, then relaxing back onto her beanbag with a sigh of relief.

Lily bit her lip trying to stop from giggling, as Peter stayed frozen in position, his eyes closed and his lips pouted.

After a few seconds, James cleared his throat awkwardly.

'Errr Pete?' he said gently.

Peter opened his eyes, confusedly. He realised that he wasn't going to get any more action from Meghan and leaned into the circle to touch the bottle, a slightly disappointed expression on his face. Almost everyone laughed lightly at this. Lily didn't. She was in shock.

She had always thought of Peter as less part of the Marauders that James, Sirius and Remus were. She had always assumed that he was more of a thing to laugh at, or to use in jokes than a real friend. In a situation like the one which had just happened, she would always paint James as someone who would laugh at Peter and perhaps make a joke at his expense. She was stunned at how wrong she was.

She looked over at James, and properly looked at him for the first time in years. She saw him watching the bottle, lost in thought, his forehead slightly creased. She followed the lines of his shoulders with her eyes, strong from Quidditch but not scarily so. His hair, untameable as ever, but which she had noticed did not come from him always messing with it as he usually did, but was just the way it was. Since the day at the lake, he hardly ever mussed it anymore, only when he was tired or agitated. His eyes, hazel behind his glasses, looking up now to check whether Peter was alright. Her heart melted.

Maybe she did like him? He was handsome sweet and funny and it seemed that his arrogance was gone now. No Lily! You don't like him! You can't go from hating someone to liking them like that in a matter of hours! _But what if you never really hated him in the first place?_ NO! YOU DO NOT LIKE JAMES POTTER!

James looked up at her in horror and for a terrifying moment, Lily thought she'd yelled out loud again. However, James' eyes slid downwards again and she followed them in confusion. She gasped. The bottle had stopped.

Make-Out Lily.

The silence was broken as Meghan clapped her on the back and said loudly:

'Get in there Lily!'

Lily turned to her best friend incredulously. Meghan smiled deviously back and mouthed 'Payback'. She looked pleadingly to James who simply stared at her; Violet on his right was wearing a vindictive smile. She set her jaw in what could have been a smile and turned to Peter, who looked like Christmas had come early.

'Right,' she said way too heartily, 'Well. We might as well ummm… yes' There was a short silence.

'Come on!' yelled Meghan. Lily was ready to take Meghan deep into the department of mysteries and leave her there. She gave her a look, shot one more glance at James and leaned forward to touch lips with Peter.

He responded with such an eagerness that suggested he had never done it before, which only made her cringe more. He tried valiantly to prize her lips open with his lips and tongue but Lily kept them clamped together as if her life depended on it. She looked into the screwed up face of Peter and found herself wishing that there was someone else on the other side of the kiss.

'Tongues! Must have tongues!' Violet was crying with glee. Lily turned her head slightly to her and gave her a death stare.

'If you don't do tongues then it doesn't count and you have to do a forfeit' said Sirius somewhat apologetically.

Lily swallowed and parted her lips slightly. Peter stuck his tongue into her mouth and she started to feel queasy. She counted three seconds and then drew back so quickly that Peter fell forward onto his face and Violet sniggered.

Lily gulped in air and swallowed jerkily. She thought maybe she'd be scarred for life by that experience. So much saliva. Lily shuddered slightly.

'Lils,' said James gently, pointing towards the bottle. She reached out and touched it.

Maybe she'd get someone better this time. Anyone would be better than Peter. She scolded herself for being nasty but it was difficult to feel sorry for Peter when still trying to get rid of his taste from the recesses of her mouth.

She had to get either Remus, which would be fine; Sirius, which would be slightly disturbing but still okay; or James. James. James. Hug James.

The bottle had stopped. Hug James. She felt a slow smile spread onto her face.

She turned to see Meghan beaming at her and Sirius mouthing 'Get in there!' to James. She let out a very unlilyish giggle and looked back at James shyly. He wasn't grinning from ear to ear as she had expected him to, but looked a little nervous, as if she was going to shriek in disgust and leave the room, slamming the door behind her. She reflected sadly, the previous Lily probably would have. Spin- the- bottle was a very good way of changing your opinions of people.

She smiled at him encouragingly and he ginned back. She got up and made her way across the circle, Violet shooting her evils the whole time. He stood and she walked right up to him, peering up into his face.

'How tall are you?' she asked incredulously. He laughed, his hand twitching, as if it was going to jump to his hair.

'Six foot two' He said and she whistled.

'Well,' she said, 'Should we…' She didn't finish as he pulled her into his arms. She stiffened slightly, and then relaxed into him, resting her head against his chest. He felt… different than how she would have thought. He was soft. He was warm. He was safe. At this, old Lily awoke and started to lecture, but as James' hands gripped around her waist slightly tighter, she decided to ignore her for once. She traced slight patterns on his back with her fingers and felt him shiver slightly. She smiled into his chest, feeling his heart beat against her forehead. She was home. She sighed contentedly and felt rather than heard his chuckle vibrating through her chest, sending electric currents down to her toes. She could stay there forever, in James Potters arms.

'Guys,' said Sirius quietly. No one answered.

'Seriously guys, you might want to take a look at this.' Lily clung to James like a small child. She was not ready to let go yet! Why did Sirius choose that moment to be awkward?

'James! Lily! Come on! There's something you need to see.' Sirius' voice was panicky now. James sighed and disentangled Lily from his arms. She fought very hard not to grab hold of him and not let go. That would be very bad. Bad Lily!

Sirius was sitting with everyone else crowded around him, looking at a piece of paper on his lap. Lily followed James over, peering curiously at the paper. It seemed to be a sort of map made of new parchment. A map of Hogwarts. And on the map…

'Is that… are they… people?' she asked incredulously, looking at the hundreds of labelled dots on the map, most converged in the four common rooms. 'What is this map?' Sirius sighed.

'Its our Marauders map. We made it in our second year. This way we can see where everyone is at all times. It's come in handy when…' Sirius was cut off by stares from James and Remus. Lily looked around at Meghan who was staring in admiration at the map.

'But this… this is how… you've been using this map to break the rules for five years?' Lily asked outraged. Sirius rolled his eyes and she rounded on Remus.

'You're a prefect!' she said, as her ideals crashed about my ears. He looked apologetic and opened his mouth to speak but Sirius cut across him.

'Here we are,' he said pointing to a stretch of corridor.

'There's no dots there!' Violet piped up, but Lily had already worked it out.

'Room of requirement is unplottable?' she asked James and he nodded, looking impressed.

'Here we are,' Sirius repeated, 'and here's McGonagall' He pointed to a dot, moving fast in the direction of their corridor.

'Well she can't know we're in here! I'm more worried about the fact that this map is an unregistered magical artefact! D'you know how much…'

'Lily, just, shut up for a minute will you?' James said, cutting into her speech. She looked at him for a moment, outraged, but a moment was all it took. Through the walls drifted a familiar voice.

'Studentsss! Studenttss out of bed! Way past your bedtime ickle Gryffindors! On the seventh floor corridorrrrr!'

James turned to Sirius in horror.

'Peeves!' They said in unison.

'RUN!' Sirius yelled, grabbing Meghan's hand and wrenching the door open, the others in hot pursuit.

'I'm not going anywhere,' continued Lily, 'until you promise to register that…'

'I'm sorry Lily,' said James as he covered her mouth with one hand and grabbed her hand in the other, 'But we have to go!'

They ran.


	5. In the 5th floor Broom Cupboard

**I have been very bad and forgot this story for a while! But there will be more updates for it now I promise! Thankyou for all the lovely reviews, please keep them coming! Oriel x**

**I own nothing in this chapter! Not even the broom cupboard…**

Lily barely had time to pull her hands in front of her face before she was swung into a wooden, studded door. She crashed through it; fell over something metal and both of her elbows crunched into an unexpected wall.

'BLOODY OWW JAMES!' she snarled as his body hit hers and crunched her elbows off the wall again. 

'Shhhhhhh!' he hissed, cocking his head towards the door. They both listened intently. Butterflies rose in Lily's belly as she thought of what McGonagall would do if she caught her and James of all people, in a broom cupboard together. She groaned internally, what would she think they'd been doing? This would ruin her chances of being Head girl next year for sure. She felt a sudden wave of loathing towards her best friend. It was all Meghan's fault: Lily didn't even want to go! And where was Meghan now?

'Snogging in a cupboard with Sirius probably' Lily grumbled to herself. James turned to her, eyebrow raised, a wicked look in his eyes.

'Why Lily,' he said solemnly, 'I didn't know you harboured secret feelings for Sirius!' Lily cursed her stupid mouth to hell. 'You could always go and find him you know, though he may be with Megs. They may even let you get involved!'

'Yes, well you'd know all about that wouldn't you Potter,' she shot back at him. If possible, James' eyebrow rose even higher.

'I'd know about harbouring secret feelings for Sirius?' he considered her for a moment, a dreamy look in his eyes, 'Well, I'm not going to lie, I do get lost in his deep, sparkling grey eyes…'

'Oh shut up Potter,' she snapped, 'You know what I meant.' She extricated her foot from the bucket with as much dignity as she could muster. The effect was slightly ruined as she tripped over a broom.

'Careful there Evans,' James chuckled, his arm shooting out to steady her. Lily studiously ignored the way the butterflies in her belly picked up the pace as he touched her.

'How long before we can get out of here and make a run for the dorms,' she asked irritably, pulling out of his grip and stumbling slightly again.

'Just waiting until the coast is clear,' James grinned, 'It's for your own safety Lils.'

'Don't call me that,' she said automatically, though the butterflies had started fluttering again. She glared at her stomach menacingly.

'Don't call me Jamesie' he retorted, winking.

'That, if I remember correctly, was not me, it was _Violet_' She grinned as James' face darkened considerably.

'Jealous?' he teased. Lily's grin dropped. Then she screamed.

'Merlin Lily! I was only joking!' he covered her mouth with his hands frantically, 'Shut up Lily! McGonagall will hear us!' The scream died in Lily's throat. 'What is the matter?' hissed James anxiously, cautiously removing his hands from her mouth. She raised a shaking hand and pointed over his left shoulder. He turned quickly, then looked slowly back to her, face cracking into a huge grin.

'You screamed, because you're afraid of spiders?' he asked incredulously, jerking his thumb towards the large spiders web behind him, where a fat spider balanced threateningly. 'That's so…' he paused, searching for the word, 'Cliché' Underneath his smile, Lily thought she could sense a little disappointment. She didn't know why this bothered her so much.

'No,' she said, her voice shaking, 'I'm not afraid of _spiders, _I'm afraid of spiders _webs_.' This time James' laugh was long and sincere.

'You never fail to surprise me Miss Evans,' Lily felt a squirm of pleasure, which had nothing to do with the distance between her and the cobweb. 'Pray tell, why are you afraid of spiders webs?' Lily eyed the thing apprehensively.

'They're just… it's like they're trying to catch you and tie you up. When I was younger, me and Tuney, sorry that's..'

'Your sister Petunia, I know,' Lily looked at him. She didn't know anything about his family, she realised rather guiltily. She wondered who his parents were, whether he had any brothers or sisters, what he was like at home… James cleared his throat.

'Yes,' she said, flustered, 'Well, me and Tuney went exploring one day, in the shed at the bottom of our garden. Mum had told us not to go in there because my dad's tools were there but Tuney had gotten into an argument with her that morning and wanted to do it just to spite her, and she dragged me along too. I was only about five. We went in and it was dark and frightening, I wanted to go but Tuney said I had to keep watch while she took mum's gardening gloves and hid them. I was sat in the shed with the door a little open, but it was very windy that day, and the door slammed shut. It was one of those doors that could only be unlocked from the outside. I was stuck in there for only ten minutes but there were cobwebs everywhere. I got caught up in them and I couldn't get out. I remember them being in my hair and in my eyes and in my mouth.' Lily shuddered. 'But anyway, Tuney ran and got mum and she got me out and gave me a bath, but I still hate them. Sometimes I hate Tuney. She didn't really abandon me, but that's what it felt like, and I hate her for doing it all over again..' She blinked back tears that came all-too-readily. 'I've never told anyone that before.' She whispered.

James simply gazed at her, an unfathomable expression in his eyes: something like sadness. He seemed about to say something but stopped himself. The butterflies sprang up again in Lily's belly as she drank in his face. She was suddenly very aware of how close he was in the cramped broom cupboard. His face was only to a few inches from hers and she had to actively stop her hand from reaching up and straightening out that crease between his eyebrows. She could feel the heat coming off his chest and smell the warm mint of his breath. He shifted slightly and she saw the hazel of his eyes darken to a forest green as her breath caught in her throat. He was close enough to touch; close enough to kiss. Her gaze flickered down to his lips. She admired their fullness, the way they curved delicately at the top down to the creases at the side. They looked so soft. What did they taste like Lily wondered? Her brain was going hazy. She wanted to taste them. Needed to taste them. She tilted her head and leaned closer, looking back up to his eyes and down again…

'I think she's gone,' breathed James. Lily came back to reality with a bump.

'What?' she asked, bemused. James cleared his throat.

'McGonagall,' he said in a hoarse voice, 'I think she's gone.'

'Oh.' said Lily. 'Right.' James' face split into a grin:

'Kitchens?'

Lily groaned.

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please review **

**Just a note on updates- I'll be updating all my stories alternately whenever I get the chance which will probably be more than once a week. I now have a plan for this story! So its all sorted :D **

**Thanks! **

**Oriel x**


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